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The so-called McLaren report, which led to the partial suspension of the Russian Olympic team and the full suspension of the Russian Paralympic team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, is now being put into question by WADA itself, which has now admitted that “in many cases the evidence provided may not be sufficient to bring successful cases.”

According to a letter sent out by the International Olympic Committee Director General Christophe De Kepper to all National Olympic Committees and International Sporting Federations, the investigation is far from over:

“This process will clearly take some time, but I can assure you that we are still determined to conclude these cases as swiftly as possible. We want to protect the clean athletes and ensure a level playing field. It is already evident from the appeals filed against some International Federations provisional suspension decisions that the IOC decision will have to stand up to a strong legal challenge,” the report said.

In an interview with R-Sport, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov commented on WADA’s recent confession about the lack of evidence in the McLaren report.

“WADA’s assessment on the report is comprehensive and doesn’t require any comments on our part. I can only say that we will continue consistent work to restore compliance with WADA’s provision,” the official was quoted as saying. “Our federations are working with international federations. We are absolutely open and willing to cooperate, and I hope that these findings will be another step in the right direction.”

IOC has already carried out two waves of reanalysis of samples from the London and Beijing Olympics, retesting a total of 1,243 samples, out of which 98 proved positive and two more waves are expected to take place.

Russia has already lost 13 medals earned during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as well as eight during the 2012 Olympics in London in a decision by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) taken after reanalysis of samples.

The Russian doping scandal began in 2014 and escalated in July 2016, when the independent WADA commission headed by McLaren presented its report. The second part of the report was published on December 9, resulting in Russia losing the 2016-2017 ISU Speed Skating World Cup, the Biathlon World Cup, the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup and the 2017 bobsleigh and skeleton world championships.

On January 30, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced its decision to ban Russian athletes from the qualifying events for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea.